Page 34 of Of Lies and Shadows

We split at the top of the stairs wordlessly and place them in their beds.

Lucia stirs, rubbing her eyes. “Papa… monster prayer?”

I pause, my hand halfway to adjusting her blanket. I glance at Alice in the doorway, unsure.

She smiles and gently nods.

So I sit down on the edge of the bed, brushing my daughter’s curls from her forehead. Alice leans against the doorframe, arms folded, her eyes impossibly calm as she watches me fumble my way through it.

I clear my throat. “Monsters, monsters, big and tall…”

Lucia echoes the next line sleepily, eyes fluttering shut. “Don’t scare me, just guard us all…”

My voice lowers, steadier this time. “Watch my bed and guard the light. Keep me safe all through the night.”

She’s already asleep before the last word is out.

I stand, and Alice closes the door behind us.

We don’t speak as we walk down the hallway. Something’s shifted again, and it’s quiet, like before a storm. Like we’re holding our breath in the dark.

When we reach her room, she turns, hand on the doorknob. “Thank you. For tonight. They had so much fun.”

I should nod. I should say goodnight and walk away.

But I don’t.

Instead, I hear myself say, “You didn’t tell me the monster prayer was a spell.”

She smiles, confused. “It’s not.”

“No?” I step closer. “Because it worked.”

Her breath hitches, the air tight between us. My hand lifts before I can stop it, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. My fingers graze her cheek, and her lips part just a little. The world narrows. Shrinks.

“Dante…”

“I’ve tried not to want this,” I whisper, my voice thick. “Tried to ignore it. But every time I see you with them… with me…” I shake my head, and my jaw tightens. “I’m done pretending.”

And then I kiss her.

There’s no hesitation. No careful approach. My mouth claims hers in a kiss that’s rough and desperate, months of tension unraveling in a single heartbeat. She gasps, and I take the opportunity to deepen it, my hand sliding to the back of her neck as she presses against me.

She answers with a hunger that knocks the air out of my lungs. Her fingers tangle in my shirt, her mouth hot and sweet against mine, tasting like a secret I never should’ve touched.

It’s fire and silk and madness, and I don’t want to stop.

Not tonight. Not now.

Not when she kisses me like this.

Not when I already know I’ll never be the same again.

Chapter Nine

Francesca

Everything feels different now. That kiss,god,that kiss, shattered whatever illusion I’d been clinging to.

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